


Darkness Can't Last Forever

by roshytsunami



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Daemons, Hallucinations, Hunters, M/M, Status Effect, World of Ruin, long lasting status effect, mute character, voices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29322258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roshytsunami/pseuds/roshytsunami
Summary: Prompto wipes his eyes and steps back, “you…is this real?”Noctis only offers him a grin walking to stand right before Prompto barely a foot apart. He smirks leaning closer to the trembling Prompto blue eyes gazing into Prompto’s own violet ones. “Real as you want. Now come on let’s go play some games before I get too sleepy.”Prompto has been hunting in darkness for years when he gets hit by a rare status effect.For the World of Ruin Big Bang 2021
Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21
Collections: World of Ruin Big Bang





	Darkness Can't Last Forever

**Author's Note:**

> For the World of Ruin Big Bang 2021
> 
> Lovely art work done by Happy Orc they can be found here: https://happy-orc.tumblr.com/
> 
> Artwork for fic found here https://happy-orc.tumblr.com/post/642746198009266176/this-was-my-contribution-to-the-world-of-ruin-big
> 
> Warning this fic deals with hallucinations, hearing voices, and graphic violence read at own risk.

Prompto sighs wind blowing through his hair as he looks on at the endless darkness. The sun had been gone for years how many have passed he’s not sure. Time stops being important when you only worry about if you’ll survive the relentless spawning of daemons. The motor of the truck engine hums slightly, headlights on full blast as his newest team of hunters’ heads towards the Rock of Ravatogh. There is a rumor a light shard is hidden near the volcanic daemon invested area. The spiracorns had long since left the rock areas for better pastures while others had taken their place such as volcanic flan. Still dangerous as any other flan but more evolved than the last, more deadly with the lava that sprays from their mouth.

The truck parks and Prompto sighs once more getting out as the team leader makes a quick announcement of what needs to be done and how best to find the light shard. Technology had improved finding the shards. It wasn’t as easy to find them since the darkness encased everything in sight. Not as easy as it was in the beginning when there were some hours of day light available before it all went dark. Prom catches the device thrown at him.

“Prompto you’ll take those two and search the west side,” says the hunter Tilas. Tilas was a veteran hunter had been a hunter before the endless darkness. The woman had taught him more than he could thank her for. Took a broken boy in after the crystal disaster, after his family unit had split up because the key part that kept them together was stuck in a crystal for who knows how long.

Prompto offers grunt reply before strapping the seeking device across his upper arm. He doesn’t need it getting misplaced are hindering his gunshots when the daemons do appear. He sees the other hunter check over his gear as he does the same for her. Once they are both satisfied with the “buddy check” they move out towards the western slope of the mountain.

It’s not long before they are beginning to climb the volcanic mountain eyes peeled with the dim light on their shirts barely giving them enough light to see their next step. It’s treacherous climbing the mountain side. Rocks fall and tumble as the steep incline makes his knees ache. He checks the seeking device on his upper arm and feel it vibrate as they climb.

“Faba we’re getting close,” he says receiving a click of the tongue from the other hunter.

It was in no way a cause of disrespect. Prompto’s lucky she can do at least that sound. Ever since she survived the fall of Insomnia, she had lost her voice unable to communicate unless by signing or writing shorts phrases. Paper and writing materials were rare and signing was the best but only if you could see. The unique sounds she made for affirmation or negative were more than enough for a hunter.

The seeking device vibrates more violently as they climb over the last bit of a slope reaching a flat area lite only by the glow of magma cracked beneath the ground. It’s warm but not hot enough to ruin the rubber of their boots just yet. The device vibrates as soon as Prompto walks forward.

“It’s around here somewhere,” he says as he begins to search through the rocky ground before he hears the faint sound of buzzing above. “Look out,” he shouts pulling his gun from its holster shooting the first bee down.

It seems whatever they had stepped upon was a trap, a nest of Brutal Bees.

Faba takes the daggers from her sides and begins to jump slashing at the moving bees. They buzz and spew acids from their jaws melting the ground below. One after another bee is taken down. The bees take time to build up the acid spray. Faba dodges and throws one of the daggers directly into the Bees abdomen as Prompto moves around shooting with as much accuracy as he can with swarming bees.

He’s still not a fan of bugs, especially vicious deadly ones such as these.

No matter how many they take down they just continue to come from out of nowhere.

It’s a full out swarm.

Prompto looks around still shooting at the bee flying right towards him before he sees it. The nest the bees are coming from.

“Faba cover me,” he yells shooting three more bullets in the bee above him before it falls to the ground. He quickly unstraps the bazooka from his back and prepares it as quick as he can. He aims grinning, “hi there opening,” he laughs before letting the missile fly into the bee nest. Bes swarm out from the hive buzzing and burning from the attack.

Eventually the bees in the hive take their last breath as Faba demolishes the last flying one with ease. She looks over at Prompto and smiles nodding her head. Prompto offers a simple salute before screaming. Faba rushes over watching as Prompto pushes against a large Brutal Bee from his side. The stinger is squirming inside his abdomen as this bee begins to buzz and drip acid from its mouth preparing for the spray. Faba stabs the bee through the head ending its life quickly.

“Celebrated too soon,” he laughs pulling the stinger from his abdomen before kicking the bee away. It looks different than the other ones. More sinister and the daemon gases emitting from its body sting his nose more.

Faba taps Prompto on the arm holding out a potion. It’s a simple healing potion but it’ll help keep his wound together until they can regroup with the other hunters.

“Thanks,” he says watching the deformed bee twitch before going still. The coloring of the bee is all wrong the reds and blues are no longer there. Instead it’s a mesh of black and purple with bare hints of spotted red. “That doesn’t look like a normal one…but it sure felt like one,” he winces as he pours the potion over his wound.

“Kill me,” he hears whispered on the wind. Prompto shakes his head looking up at Faba.

“Faba see if you can find the shard it should be around here somewhere,” he says holding his head.

Those bees cause confusion. That’s all it is. It’ll wear off in a few minutes all he has to do is just keep his eyes closed and tell Faba once she gets back. If he can recognize her.

“Baby where’s my baby,” he hears suddenly. He looks across the battlefield and sees nothing but the twitching bees who are hanging on to life. He takes a deep breath in and lets it out slowly. He feels a pat on his shoulder and jumps turning around guns out.

Faba raises her hands up in surrender as Prompto looks at her confused before lowering the weapon. “I got hit with confusion Faba if that is you,” he says unsure.

Faba clicks with her tongue before slowly showing him the shard she had found in the rocks. It’s enough to keep Lestallum lite for another 6 months.

“Good, good,” he says rubbing his face before standing on shaky feet. “You’re going to have to guide me…I’m keeping my eyes shut just so I don’t confuse you with something else,” he says out loud. He feels a squeeze around his hand and makes a nod of his head eyes shut.

He doesn’t trust himself, but he trusts the hand he is holding to guide him safely away from here. He takes a calm breath as he focuses on the warmth in his hand trying to block out what he knows has to be the status effect. This confusion spell is really making him uncertain about his senses.

He stumbles down the steep parts of the mountain feeling a hand press on his chest to steady his clumsy body. Even after all these years he still doesn’t have the best footing unless under stress or fighting.

They make it back down the slope with a few close calls. He hesitates opening his eyes and lets out a sigh of relief. It feels like the confusion spell he was under is gone. He doesn’t hear any voices or feel anything under his skin. He pats Faba on the back, “thanks for that.”

Faba looks at him and shrugs carrying the shard of light carefully back to the extraction point. Prompto follows behind her.

“Help me.”

He looks around quickly Faba is ahead of him it can’t be her but no one else is around.

“Help me please!”

He turns his head at the sound of the voice and sees it a centipede daemon turned on its back impaled by a sharp broken tree. He looks at it squirm and scrunches his nose in disgust as it turns its eyes on him.

“Help me!”

Prompto stumbles back cursing. The centipede did it just…”

“You hear me help me help me!”

Prompto watches as the centipede squirms quicker moving itself up and down impaling itself further. It’s eyes train on Prompto and Prom swears he hears it ask for its help once again before passing.

Prom can’t believe what just happened or what his ears may have heard. It can’t be possible. It has to just be the status effect from earlier still not wore off. He rubs his eyes staring at the dead daemon and shakes his head. He just needs some rest a short nap and he’ll be fine.

Prompto massages the bridge of his nose feeling the oncoming headache. Faba grunts over at him as she drives the beat up hunter car across the darken streets. The headlights are on fully as Faba growls from her throat speeding down the road.

“I’m fine,” Prompto says watching Faba grip the wheel tighter biting her bottom lip. “Really I’m fine,” he repeats as she snorts watching the road for any unsuspecting daemons. Prompto’s not sure if she believes him but right now he just wants a long nap after what he heard during the battle. He’s not sure if the effect is completely gone but it feels like it’s gone. Effects don’t last long unless it’s something poisonous. He feels the throb in his head and sighs. Maybe he’ll need something more than a nap.

They arrive back at the hunter quarters soon enough Faba furiously signing to him as he takes each step carefully. She’s worried about him and while he appreciates it, right now he needs something to get rid of his headache maybe beer.

“Faba I’m fine,” he says rubbing his head.

She glares at him green eyes narrowing before huffing.

He chuckles and pats her on the back, “thanks for worrying but I think I just need a drink and a good nap so Anabella’s?”

She sighs and nods her head curly puffy up locks bopping along with her. She signs a quick ‘wait a minute’ to Prompto before readjusting her headband to keep the fly away and most of her dark hair out of the way. Those bees had done a number to both of them.

Prompto smiles and walks beside her as they head to the bar just down the road. It use to be a supply store but once the supplies started running low and it was safer to hoard any supplies you got behind the gate it became a bar. Some place to relax from the current state of the world. The lights flickered on and off half the time but a simple readjustment of the crystal and they would illuminate the bar well enough for patrons to get a drink.

Faba chooses their normal spot and drops her gear on the table before waiting behind Prompto as he orders his drink. He doesn’t drink often it’s too much of a risk but right now he needs something to take the edge off. He can’t seem to get those voices out of his head. It was a pretty creepy status effect and he’s not going to worry Faba over it. Better to just put it as a bad night with fighting daemons and that be the end of it.

Faba pokes him in the arm and points at the barkeeper holding out his drink. Prompto nods his head and offers a quick thanks before heading to back of the bar drink in hand. He sets the drink down before plopping in the wooden seat sighing. His legs are aching but that’s also the added bonus of his beer. It makes everything feel less mentally and physically. He’s not a drunk, he doesn’t think so but some days he just needs to feel his body relax and become like putty. He needs something to make him feel good with this constant darkness.

He feels the tap on his shoulder as Faba sits in front of him with her cranberry vodka. She kicks the gear out of her seat before sitting down. She sips her drink and signs to Prompto all at once.

‘What happened out there you looked lost?’

“Oh uh nothing. Just battling daemons gets to be too much. You know how it is,” he forces a smile before taking a swig of his beer. It tastes bitter and the foam tastes like soap. I’s disgusting but most medicine tastes horrible.

Faba narrows her eyes at him before signing. ‘It looked worse than that. Did the bee sting you?’

Prompto flinches and takes a big gulp of his drink as Faba gasps. ‘It stung you! Prompto you need a potion to get rid of whatever it did—” she signs fantically.

Prompto shakes his head no and grabs Faba’s copper hands to still her. “Faba it’s ok. I think the effect is gone.”

That was obviously the wrong thing to say as Faba pulls her hands from his and begins to verbally curse him out. Her hands move faster than Prompto can keep reading but eventually she calms down enough and proceeds to glare at him as she chugs her drink.

‘You’re a fucking idiot,’ she signs raising her hands up. ‘We’re partners and you keep that from me?!’

“Because I didn’t want you reacting like this over something stupid,” she yells.

‘You are stupid! Stupid for not telling me something dangerous like this. What if the effect made you sick or was permanent or idk these daemons get weirder everyday,” she says throwing her hands in the air before slumping in her chair not looking at him.

“Faba,” Prompto says slowly. “I’m sorry…I didn’t want to worry you and I think I’m fine. I…I didn’t want to scare you and I think the effect is gone.” He mumbles hearing a displeased grunt from her.

“Look it’s part of the job getting injured and it seemed like something to ignore until we got back to the base safely.”

‘But you weren’t going to tell me,’ she signs to him.

“No…but you figured it out so kudos?” He replies receiving a slap against his arm.

‘Never do that again. We have to look out for each other alright.’

Prompto rubs his stinging arm and nods his head. “Sure from now on I’ll tell you when—” He pauses thinking of the voices he heard before. He shakes his head and finishes. “I’ll tell you when I get hurt promise.”

* * *

It’s weird waking up in the middle of the night or what feels like night. Prompto’s eyes open suddenly staring up at the metal framed ceiling above his head. He lays in the bed just starring before rolling on his side and forcing himself to sit up on the side of the cot. He rubs his eyes wincing. The battle last night with those swarm of bees was still affecting him. He swears he heard someone asking to kill them but it was only Faba and him last night. No one there but the dying daemons and just the thought of hearing daemons…it’s not impossible but it would just add to the list of ‘weird shit that should just stay buried’, more or less.

Prompto hunches over on the side of the cot and reaches for his glasses. The out of focus image of the room is making him nauseous. Might just be an after effect of last night’s hunt but when the world becomes clearer he let’s out a sigh of relief.

“Need to get more contacts before the next hunt,” he leans to the side and reaches for his boots by the cot and laces them up quickly. The faster he can get back to hunting and ignore the status effect that happened last night or day…the faster he can forget it the better in his opinion.

Boots laced he exits the room and winces at the bright light beaming in the hunter quarters.

Faba is over by the weaponry getting her daggers sharpened when she spots him and waves. Prompto waves back yawning as he tries to get his bearing down. He feels the bottom of his pocket and pulls out a few gems that could be used to trade for some supplies contacts included. It’s stupid in his opion to have a trade system up when the whole world has gone to hell and back. Why not just help people out instead of trading.

He muses his hair up trying to keep it’s usual style but without gel and the fact grease is still in his hair, the hair only lays flat. He let’s out a sigh heading towards the nearest supplier to get the goods he needs.

It doesn’t take long. He’s just getting his supply of contacts and some other tools when he hears a click behind him followed by a tug. He turns around and smiles at Faba.

“Saw you getting the daggers sharpened,” he says as she nods her head before signing a few phrases to him.

_“Sharp enough to cut killer bees. Those ones were different weren’t they?”_

“Yeah they were weird,” he trails off grabbing his supplies. “But I guess everything is a little weird,” he laughs.

 _“Glasses?”_ She sighs pointing at his face.

“Huh oh yeah,” he smiles nervously. “Got my contacts so next hunt should be better.”

_“Next hunt? You’re not tired?”_

“Well yeah I gotta get back to hunting soon. Can’t take a break right now. Noct’s…well he’s counting on me to keep the world sort of safe. I bet Gladio and Ignis are doing better at it in their own hunting grounds but that’s why I gotta keep hunting.”

Faba bites her chapped lips before tapping him on the shoulder. _“Don’t forget to take me too.”_

“You ready for more already?”

She nods her head. _“It’s fun even if those bees were really weird yesterday and it gives you something to do. To keep busy.”_ She signs looking down at her shoes.

“Alright well I guess you can come with me on my next hunt. Might be in a few hours after I wake up and get my gear on you ready for that?”

She offers him a solid thumbs up grinning.

“Right always up for a fight,” he yawns before scratching the back of his head. He still feels a little fuzzy from the fight from before but his status effect should be over by now. He doesn’t hear the voices anymore so he should be fine with this next hunt. Just a couple of voretooths nothing too heavy. Their fangs had become more valuable during the dark and as such they were prime daemons to hunt. Easy money, easy kills it shouldn’t be tough at all.

The status effect hasn’t worn off.

It was suppose to be an easy hunt with Faba. Wait until the Voretooths arrive and then start shooting as much as possible and collect any valuable ingredients they could from the kill. Simple and easy.

It was anything but simple.

Faba had just sliced through the latest voretooth daggers covered in blood as she looks over at Prompto shakily holding a gun in front of a point blank range voretooth walk towards him.

“Kill me. Hurry before it takes over and kill me please!”

Prompto’s hands shake as he holds the gun out in front of him the voretooth pressing it’s head against the barrel begging him to pull the trigger.

“Kill me. Please kill me.” He hears as he fires the round. The creature drops to the ground dead already turning into smoke.

He doesn’t have time to wonder about the noise again when a voretooth attacks him from behind dragging him.

“Rip and tear! Rip and tear!” Prompto hears come from the voretooth slashing at his clothes. He quickly turns on his side and fire three rounds into the creature making it stumble back. He reloads his gun quickly and fires another round through it’s eye blood dripping from the exit wound.

“Pain! Pain!” He hears come from the creature before it falls to the ground joining the other dead as it begins to disintegrate into nothingness. He wipes his head arm shaking as he stands up feeling someone tap his shoulder. He aims the gun on the being who touched him and pulls back the gun cursing.

“Fuck Faba. You know better,” he says breath hitched in his throat. He let’s out a shaking breath and looks at her trying to hide how his nerves have been severed.

She frowns and signs to him. _“You were distracted. Why?”_

Prompto shrugs, “oh you know just uh bad day.”

He’s not going to admit to her he still has the status effect. Not when he doesn’t even known if it is a status effect or because he’s just lost his mind. Faba raises an eyebrow at his response but doesn’t question further before gathering ingredients from the fallen voretooth. Prompto runs a hand through his hair hand shaking.

It’s not real. He thinks to himself as he begins to scavenge the decomposing bodies. It’s not real just the dark playing tricks on you.

“Why did you shoot me? Why did you hurt me?” Prompto hears. He turns around and sees a struggling voretooth gasping for breath. “You can hear me?! Why did you hurt me? Everything hurts make it stop. Kill me please kill me!”

A loud gunshot rings out through the plains. Prompto places his gun back in his holster as the noise stops. It’s silent. No more voices, just quiet. It’s nice.

The status effect hasn’t worn off at all.

It’s been weeks.

Or whatever had happened to him that night hadn’t worn off. It’s getting worse with each hunt he takes on. It’s getting harder and harder to block out the screams of the daemons who sound too human, too real to be taken as just a daemon.

He pukes the first time he hears the daemon beg to be spared. Pukes right after he shot a hole right in its eye socket.

“Why’d you kill me,” the tonberry asks before disappearing in the same black smoke most daemons are starting to evolve to. It’s gaseous and smells like decaying flesh being released in the air. It sticks in your nostrils for days after a kill and makes you remember.

Prompto covers his nose with a spare bandana and blows as hard as he can before wiping. He smells the scent still but not as strong as it was before. He tucks the dirty bandana into his back pocket and breaths through his mouth walking away from the daemon corpse.

“You’re just going to leave me here?”

Prompto pauses in his step and shivers. That voice. It’s been years…literal years since he has heard that voice. He turns around slowly eyes landing on a self-induced heart attack. It’s Noctis how he last looked before…he shakes his head.

“You’re not real,” he says looking at the fake Noctis walking towards him. He shuts his eyes closed and forces his mind to remember seeing his friend sucked into some glowing selfish rock. He opens them once more and sees Noctis standing there with a quirk of smile arms crossed over his chest.

“Prom why are you scared of me,” the Noctis grins. “Come on let’s head back and play some King’s Knight by the campfire.”

Prompto wipes his eyes and steps back, “you…is this real?”

Noctis only offers him a grin walking to stand right before Prompto barely a foot apart. He smirks leaning closer to the trembling Prompto blue eyes gazing into Prompto’s own violet ones. “Real as you want. Now come on let’s go play some games before I get too sleepy.”

Prompto hesitates hand trembling as he reaches for his gun. He can’t shoot Noctis. This can’t be real but. He feels Noctis touch his cheek. Feels the heat from the palm of his hand as Noctis stares into his eye those blue eyes staring deeply into his soul. It has to be real. Noctis came back!

He reaches for Noctis hand feeling the warmth of his friend’s cheek against his palm. It has to be real, somehow Noctis has returned and…Noctis’ head disintegrates before his very eyes fading away like sand slipping through his fingers. Prompto’s knees shake before he falls on the ground kneeling. Noctis was right there, he heard him, he felt him so why did he. He laughs whole body rocking as the laughter turns to sobs. He bows his head and cries banging his fist on the dirt. It feels like one of Ardyn’s cruel tricks. Why is this happening. There never was a Noctis before just voices of the daemons before death so why?

He hears a crack on the ground and aims his weapon suddenly in the dark. His eyes are blotchy and red, but he squints looking through the dark.

“Don’t be scared. I promise I’m not going to hurt you,” a voice says and without the image of a body Prompto can’t trust just a voice anymore.

“Said all serial killers,” he laughs pointing his gun in the dark. “Come on out! Stop torturing me!”

Slowly the darkness begins to ebb as a shape begins to form. It has the form of a horse as it comes from the shadows and stands in front of Prompto. The light from his gear flickers as it shows one of the daemons native to this land. A spiracorn that is not attacking him. He holds the gun out in front of him trained on the Spiracorn.

“I promise not to hurt you,” it says or Prompto thinks it says. Who knows with the way his brain has been he can’t tell truth from reality anymore? He thought he could until the Noctis showed itself.

“You…you can’t talk,” he says whole body tensed. “You’re just a daemon and they can’t talk so why?”

“Why can you hear us,” it asks not moving from its spot. It’s tail moves swatting it’s backside.

Prompto snorts, “it has to be that status effect that stupid bee…didn’t heal right,” he mumbles.

The spiracorn says nothing only letting Prompto say his piece.

“Are you going to shoot me,” the spiracorn asks tilting its head.

“…not for now,” Prompto says keeping the gun in his hand but lowering the weapon. “So is this the part where you explain why I’m not a nut job and how I haven’t lost my mind cause explaining this might help you know.”

The spiracorn sighs. “I was human.” It starts as Prompto shakes his head.

“Sure, and I’m the king of Insomnia,” he laughs.

The spiracorn snorts before lowering its head as it moves the dirt around with its horn gradually forming a name. Prompto stares at the daemon shocked. “Uh good trick?”

“You’ve been around daemons long enough to know it’s not a trick.”

“Y-yeah ok but…you being human how?”

Prompto realizes he spoke without thinking a bit too late as he sees the Spiracorn turn its head towards him front hoof stomping.

“Shit I’m sorry just I want to understand and know why I can hear you and every other daemon now.”

“It’s not every daemon,” they comment. “I’ve been watching you…waiting to approach.”

“Equine stalker,” he blurts earning a snort from the daemon. “Right sorry.”

“You don’t react to animal daemons or ones made from animals only the human turned daemons. That’s why they beg you to stop killing them. They still think of themselves as human,” the spiracorn frowns. “It’s the beginning of the last stage before they lose everything about themselves. Memories begin to fade, they no longer know their name, and eventually they forget they even were human.”

“So how long do you have left,” he asks bluntly. “Should I shoot you now before you turn? Is that why you’ve been stalking me?”

“I’ve been trying to help…when we are turned it’s different. Daemon blood is involved mixed with our blood by accident or on purpose. We become infected and the scourge disease persists.”

“But the scourge has been around for ages and nothing like this has happened before,” he asks confused.

“The darkness is stronger, it has changed, those infected by scourge change because light can no longer reduce its spread of effect.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you’re the only one to have survived the infection with no daemonefication. You can hear us now. How?” It demands hoof stomping the ground

Prompto gulps, “I thought you could tell me? Since you know,” he says as the spiracorn’s tail twitches. “You were talking about humans to daemons and me being a new Dr. Doolittle but without the doctor bit?”

“I don’t know. I just know you were infected but show no symptoms.” It snorts looking away in the distance.

“How can you tell?” He asks looking down at his covered wrist. He has a good guess on why he may not have turned as other humans did. Kind of difficult to turn an MT into a daemon unless constantly infusing it with its energy. At least that’s the knowledge that was gathered from Niflheim intel before it all went to hell a year or so ago.

“You’re smell is off,” they say as Prompto sniffs his pits wrinkling his nose.

“It is not a smell humans can sense,” they say watching the man curiously.

“So, I’m guessing this status effect, the talking to daemons isn’t going to go away anytime soon,” he snorts. “Figures. Uh what about the whole seeing dead people is that a thing too?”

“I do not know,” they say unsure. “I only know what I have observed. But now that you understand what is happening you will not harm yourself. You will get well, trust your judgments again.”

“I guess?” He raises an eyebrow worried. “You’re not going to do something stupid are you?”

“No…I only ask that you kill me now,” it states so nonchalantly Prompto does a double take.

“Kill you after everything,” he stutters hands moving out of place.

“Yes…I can feel it. It’s not strong but it will come soon,” they sigh. “I don’t wish to hurt anyone so please kill me.”

The spiracorn nudges Prompto’s hand with the gun. “Please.”

Prompto laughs stepping backwards, “that’s all you daemons ever want from me. You want me to kill you?!”

He doesn’t understand this. He hasn’t understood it since the voices started. Sure, years ago when Noctis was around that ice cave snake spoke but everyone could hear it. Now he’s the only one able to hear the daemons because they use to be human? Why him?

The spiracorn places it’s head on his boots. “Please.”

Prompto runs a hand through his hair fidgeting. He can’t say anything the emotion boiling from the inside out. He looks away before raising the gun in his hand. He rests his face before pulling the trigger. The spiracorn falls to the ground limbs twitching and body contorting trying to live. Prompto sighs and places his gun back in his holster before kneeling by the spiracorn. He reaches for the knife by his leg, pulls it out and slashes the spiracorn’s throat ending the suffering.

“I’m so sorry.” He sits back away from the spiracorn in a daze. The only good to come from this is he knew he wasn’t crazy, just infected…sort of. He looks back at the dead spiracorn and sees the fake Noctis grinning.

Prompto blinks his eyes but the fake Noctis stays.

“I guess,” he says to the hallucination, “you can’t be explained away.”

The fake Noctis laughs, “explained away? What are you talking about dude?”

Prompto let’s out a weary sigh chuckling. “If it’s not one thing it’s another,” he says shaking his head as he stands up from the spiracorn. He looks down at the body as it begins to release the toxic daemon smoke from its body. Pretty soon there will be nothing left but bones. It deserved a funeral something. It was human at one point.

Prompto rubs his nose and looks around. He finds a few rocks and sets them in a circle around the area where the spiracorn was. He searches for some greenery that is rare to find and make a circular grave by the spiracorn before walking away from its corpse.

“Hey Prom, don’t leave me behind buddy,” says the fake Noctis. Prom turns around seeing the eyes not look quite so right and the movements not look like Noctis at all. He forces a smile and nods his head for the fake Noctis to follow. It’s not like he can rid of the hallucination. He’s stuck with seeing him for the rest of his time during this darkness.

Maybe the fake Noctis following Prompto is the real Noctis. Maybe the darkness will be over soon. Maybe he won’t have this feeling of guilt over killing a once human daemon. It’s a whole lot of maybes, but maybe he just needs to push through it. Darkness can’t last forever; the light will come back and with it hope. He has to keep hoping, what else can he do?


End file.
